Julie Mehretu, Claire Valdez, Arthur Jafa

Julie Mehretu, Claire Valdez, Arthur Jafa

Meeting a politician who strikes you as sincere and authentic is as rare an occurrence as a New York Knicks championship or a peace deal between the US and Iran. But I had this uncommon experience last week when I met New York State Assemblywoman Claire Valdez, an artist and union organizer who's running for Congress. Valdez is as progressive as they come, advocating for Medicare for all, universal rent control, taxing the rich, abolishing ICE, …

Claire Valdez on Taking the Mamdani Coalition to Congress

New York City’s “Commie Corridor” has become the beating heart of the country’s resurgent socialist left — the place where tenant organizers, young workers, and Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) cadre have turned one of the most expensive cities on Earth into a proving ground for class politics.Fresh off the shock wave of Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory, Assemblymember Claire Valdez is now running to take that fight to Congress in New York…